Journalists from national and local media - support to promotion of PAR results

At the 3-day training and media briefing, journalists showed significant interest in EU-funded projects and support for PAR process

In the extension of the "PAR Visibility and Communication" project, the expert team continued with the good practice of bringing together journalists from national and local media in Serbia. The goal of the 3rd media briefing was focused on the possibility to discuss, in direct contact, the most efficient ways of empowering the media, in order for them to be able to report on PAR results to a greater extent and with better understanding.

A large number of journalists from both local media and those with national coverage, were presented the most important segments of PAR - necessary for understanding the importance of the reform itself, both for citizens and the business sector. The media were acquainted with information about the results of PAR, where they can be found, how to recognize them and how to report on them, adapting the language to the average citizen for whom traditional media are the most common channel of communication.

Vladimir Mihailović, Project PAR expert, spoke to the gathered media representatives about PAR as a wide field for searching and finding journalist material for new stories to be produced in the coming period. He highlighted the importance of the media for the citizens, as a channel through which the largest number of people can be informed about their rights, obligations, as well as new opportunities that are provided to them especially through certain services, as part of public administration reform.

In this segment of the media briefing, the services of the e-Government portal were presented by the Assistant Director of the Office for IT and e-Government, Dragana Bećić. She answered a large number of journalist questions, which referred not only to the functioning of the portal, but also to the specific services it offers, among which special attention was paid to the e-Citizen (e-Građanin) service.

During the media training, journalists were also presented several examples of good and bad media reports on the topic of PAR, and project experts Vojislav Milošević and Ruža Jeremić placed special emphasis on solutions that can help the media present the results in such a way that the public easily recognizes them as part of a comprehensive reform which is now an integral part of the new 2030 Strategy.

The media expressed special interest in the part of the training dedicated to the role of the EU in the PAR process and the support they continuously provide in this segment. Questions to presenters Goran Stupar, on behalf of the EU Info Centre, and Ulle Purga, Team Leader of the Project, focused on concrete assistance projects, but also on EU support which the media recognize as important and express interest in reporting about it.

The 3-day media briefing and media training were held in Belgrade in the last week of August. Taking advantage of the still favourable epidemiological conditions, the event was held at the Zira Hotel, respecting all the necessary protection measures. The present representatives of the media expressed great interest in having a similar event organised in the future.